


Prelude to Madness

by The_Peridot_Shade



Series: The Girl Who Broke The World and Other Alternate Histories [1]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Elder Scrolls Online, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Multi, Naemon/Original Character, Nonbinary Character, Unreliable Narrator, all relationships only implied at this point, characters really, this gets heavy on the metaphysical philosophy jsyk, who is Sheogorath talking to? take your pick of available people of influence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:54:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28546701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Peridot_Shade/pseuds/The_Peridot_Shade
Summary: Asking questions of the Daedric Prince of Madness is perilous business, but sometimes it pays off.Herein lies an account of madness, desperation, and metaphysics, told by the one who spearheaded a shift in the perception of Nirn's reality.Or, in which the four immortal Prisoners have banded together to change fate.  This is the aftermath.
Relationships: Hero of Kvatch | Champion of Cyrodiil & Martin Septim, Molag Bal/Original Female Character(s), Nerevarine/Sotha Sil
Series: The Girl Who Broke The World and Other Alternate Histories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2091444
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	Prelude to Madness

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here we are. The beginning of my probably overambitious attempt to write alternate histories of Tamriel hinging on the choices of sort-of-time-traveling player characters. Strap in, it's a doozy.  
> Also my excuse to nerd out about the potential intersection of physics and metaphysics in regards to the Aurbis. Fairly lore-heavy and spoiler-heavy for every game mentioned in the tags.  
> Enjoy...while you can  
> (No trauma for now. That will change.)  
> (also...you should probably not take Sheogorath's account of events as absolute truth. This is tagged 'Unreliable Narrator' for a *reason*)

When they tell the tale of the girl who broke the world, they always get it wrong.They never thought to ask why, for one—running around like chickens with their heads cut off, they were.Some literally, even, if they were unfortunate enough to stray across my path in the aftermath.

So they play up the mystique, the danger-wonder-terror, the _impact_ of it all.All to cover up that they don't _know_ why.

I could tell them, if they asked.If they dared to say it to my face.

It was love.

Oh, not 'one true love' or such romantic nonsense—never mind that the mindset required to shatter the earthbones and strew the resulting bits through time and space is a bit less love and a lot more obsession.Not exactly the sort of emotions you want directed at you, to be sure.

I'd know.

Anyway, back to the relevant point: it wasn't nearly that simple.Sure, I—er, she, got involved because M—her best friend died and she wasn't coping well, but going through with it?

Oh, that required an entirely different sort of love and a hefty dose of making terrible decisions right along with it.The others all had their own reasons, but it all boiled down to the same thing: the spark of divinity in everyone; some call it love…others call it madness.

And I _know_ madness.

Someone who witnessed it all must have thought us rather odd, we four has-been heroes of every shape and size.And we were.As odd as odd can be.

But, see, we all had something on the line.We all had something to _change_.

So we did.

And we didn't.

It's not so much that we broke the world, see—it was already broken.

We just gave everyone else the little push they needed to see it.

To see the infinities that every choice they make creates.

Now _that's_ the sort of thing that could drive a body mad.

I know what you're thinking."Sheogorath, did you engineer this just to have _more_ of…everything you are?"

No.No, I didn't.It's a nice side effect, but not the intention.Funny how things work out that way.

I just wanted Martin back.

I'm not the only one who's lost someone or something important for the sake of the world.If it were just me, maybe you could doubt.

But all of us?

Dear Nerevar wanted to see good ol' Sotha Sil in the living flesh one last time.Closure, or something.That one might actually be romance too, now that I think of it, but I'm not sure they've figured that out yet.

The Vestige, now there's a doozy—their timeline's messed up even by my standards, and they'd probably lost the most.Their actual soul, for one, though they eventually got it back.Fully half of everyone they knew and loved initially, even if some…came back, more or less intact…and then all the survivors to time.Also one of the weirdly immortal ones who desperately want to be mortal.

And the Dragonborn, well.They lost more of themselves than anyone else.Eating dragon souls and Shouting down everything in your path apparently messes with your head something fierce.And your soul.And your vocal cords.Anyway, they're a mute bard with a superiority complex and an inability to die properly these days and it's brought them wandering close to the edge of my domain on a regular basis.They just wanted a nap, I think.Or their ability to speak back.Either or.

So when it all comes down to it, yes, we broke the world.I broke the world.But we also didn't.Because all these different versions of events you can perceive now?They already existed.Our happy endings already existed, out there in the infinite multitudes.We just couldn't live them yet.

It takes a certain amount of mental flexibility, to be sure, but you'll get used to never being certain about anything—I certainly did, even before we acted!Yes, I'm aware of the irony of that choice of words.You lot always forget that madness isn't just one thing.I can be self-aware, when I want to.

As to your other question?No, we won't 'put it back'.

We were selfish, for once.We kinda like it.

So, enjoy.Enjoy all the ways your life could've/is going/has gone!Enjoy the sorrow with the joy, because here's the secret: everything has value.Especially the things you don't like!Madman's privilege, that, the knowing.Or really, the never forgetting!And the forgetting!

Where was I?

Right, the ridiculous presumption that we'd 'fix' this.See, this existence?It's all in your head.It always was, really, you just didn't know it!There's nothing _to_ fix—everything is exactly as it was before your eyes were opened.

You'll have to figure out how to blind yourself on your own.Not my problem!But do drop by when you've figured it out.I so love a good delusion.

Well, I'm off to Mania now, Dementia's gotten stale.Catch ya later!


End file.
